Kieran James Read (born 26 October 1985) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played as a number 8 and is a former captain of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks.
Read played for New Zealand from 2008 to 2019. He is one of the most-capped players of all time, and the fifth-most-capped All Black in history, having played 127 tests, scoring 26 international tries. Read captained New Zealand 52 times.
He was the IRB Player of the Year in 2013 and a key member of New Zealand's 2011 and 2015 World Cup-winning teams, becoming one of only 43 players to have won multiple men's Rugby World Cups.
Read played for the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition, and played for Canterbury and Counties Manukau in the Mitre 10 Cup, before spending his final season in Japan with Toyota Verblitz.
Read played his childhood rugby in the small town of Drury in the Counties Manukau region, just south of Auckland. He attended Opaheke Primary where his mother taught and Rosehill College, with a one-year interlude at Saint Kentigern College in 2000. Read excelled in all aspects of school life, but especially on the sports field. He gained excellent marks through to the end of seventh form. He was Head Boy of the 2000-student Rosehill College, as well as Sportsman of the Year and Sports All-rounder of the Year. Read was a talented cricketer, representing Northern District age-group teams and being selected for the New Zealand Under-17 tournament side in 2002.
Despite his age-group success as a cricket batsman, Read focused his efforts on rugby. One year after leaving school, he began his professional career in the Canterbury development squad. Read played his first National Provincial Championship game in 2006, his second year out of college.
Read played for the Crusaders in the Super 14 in 2007 as a blindside flanker. He moved to number 8 during the 2008 season, culminating in the squad winning the Super Rugby title.
He first captained the side in 2011, standing in for an injured Richie McCaw. In 2012, Read led the team for their first 10 matches while McCaw was rested. In 2013, another extended rest for McCaw saw Read named captain, although he missed six consecutive games with a toe injury.
Read was captain of the Crusaders from 2014 to 2016, but disappointingly the team did not make the 2015 playoffs. Read was relieved of captaincy when new coach Scott Robertson took over for the 2017 season, with Read missing the first half of the season due to wrist surgery. Sam Whitelock succeeded Read as captain, with Matt Todd and Ryan Crotty as vice captains. Read only played in 7 matches for the Crusaders that year, including starting in the final which was a 25–17 win over the Lions. Read scored 6 tries for the Crusaders that year, including two doubles.
Read missed many Super Rugby games again in the 2018 Super Rugby season, struggling with injury. Read returned to professional rugby from injury following the Steinlager series against France. This saw Read start for the Crusaders in the 2018 Super Rugby Final on 4 August that year. Read produced a high-level performance in the game and helped his team beat the Lions once again in the final, with the Crusaders winning 37–18. This was the first time in 10 years that the Crusaders won a Super Rugby final at home and Read was the only remaining player from the 2008 Super 14 season's final left.
Read was first selected for the All Blacks for the end-of-season tour in 2008, making his debut in a 32–6 win against Scotland on 8 November. Read started at blindside flanker and played the full 80 minutes that match. Read came off the bench for another three fixtures on the tour.
In 2009 he was retained for the All Blacks' two-test series against France, starting in the first test which was lost by the All Blacks 22–27. Read started against France the following week at number 8, his preferred position and finished off the All Blacks' 14–10 win having played every minute of the series. Read started in tandem with Jerome Kaino as blindside flanker- this was a combination the All Blacks would continue to use for the better part of a decade. Read started another seven times in 2009 and became the All Blacks' first-choice number 8 that year, displacing the now retired 62-test veteran and former stand-in captain Rodney So'oialo from the starting team.
Read scored his first international try for the All Blacks on 12 June 2010 when the team beat Ireland 66–28. Read's opposite Jamie Heaslip was red-carded, while Read ran rampant on the Irish defence. Read carried a heavy workload that year and started in all 14 tests for the All Blacks in 2010, being one of only two players to do so, with captain Richie McCaw also playing in all 14 tests. Read was the second-to-highest try-scoring All Black in 2010 and, second only to fullback Mils Muliaina who scored 7 tries in 2010. Read scored another 5 tries in 2010, scoring tries in wins against South Africa, Australia and England. Read finished his 2010 season with world-class performances against Ireland and Wales, scoring the first double of his career in a 38–18 win over Ireland. Read was named New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year, being chosen over Richie McCaw who was named World Rugby's Player of the Year for the third time and second year running.
Read was named in the All Blacks' 30-man squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which was hosted by New Zealand. He played in four of the team's seven matches – the pool game against Canada, the quarter-final against Argentina, the semi-final against Australia, and the final against France. The All Blacks became world champions for the second time by beating France 8–7 in the final.
Read had another big year for the All Blacks in 2012 and played 12 tests that year. On 17 November 2012, Read became the 66th All Blacks captain when he led the team for the first time, against Italy at Rome's Olympic Stadium in 2012, scoring a try to help the All Blacks win the match 42–10.
Following Richie McCaw's decision to take a sabbatical for the first half of 2013, Read was named captain of the All Blacks for the three-test series against France in McCaw's absence. On 15 June 2013, Read captained the team for the third time in his 50th test, which coincided with All Blacks' 500th test match, in the second game of the series between New Zealand and France at AMI Stadium. The All Blacks won 30–0. Read captained the All Blacks another three times in the year, scoring two tries against South Africa in the first 20 minutes of the game, but missed out on the chance to score a third after being yellow-carded with six minutes to go.
Read won the 2013 IRB Player of the Year title after playing in 13 of the 14 All Black tests that year, becoming the third New Zealander to win the award after teammates Dan Carter and Richie McCaw. He also won the top national rugby player award. Read was not subbed off all year, only missing 20 minutes of the 13 tests he played due to yellow cards against South Africa and England.
Read missed the first two tests of 2014 due to concussion, with Jerome Kaino starting at number 8 in his absence. Read made his return to international rugby from injury on 21 June 2014 when the All Blacks beat England 36–13. Read only played for 40 minutes against England, with Liam Messam replacing him at half-time. Read scored two tries in 2014, assisting the All Blacks to get through Australia 51–20 on 23 August 2014 and finishing the 2014 All Blacks season, scoring the final try against Wales on 22 November 2014. Read captained the All Blacks for the eighth time in his career earlier that year on 1 November 2014, leading the team to a 74–6 win against the United States in Chicago.